Pizza Express, Pizza Hut, Dominoes etc (UK)

[Gorilla]

Domino's always seem perfectly happy to provide a cheeseless pizza for me

[Tigerlily]

I heard somewhere from another vegan community that Domino's pizza dough wasn't vegan....*scratches head*

[FR]

I have read somewhere that it is not as well.

[Spiral]

I believe you can get vegan pizza with cheezly at some branches of Pizza Express. I don't know which ones, just ask at you local branch if you're interested.

I sometimes make pizza with a wholemeal base and cut up some Fry's Polony or vegan sausages to add to the usual toppings. Smoked tofu works well too.

[tails4wagging]

Tasty suggestions, I usually put cheezely on. But Ill try vegasn polony, not sure of hummous though!

[Gorilla]

I heard somewhere from another vegan community that Domino's pizza dough wasn't vegan....*scratches head*

i was told that it is vegan...maybe it's different in the UK, but maybe i'd better double check

[Tigerlily]

I tried going on their UK website for you, but I couldn't find the info.

[Gorilla]

Thanks for looking Tigerlily, i've sent them an email via their website.

[Evilfluffbunny]

Mmmm... I want pizza, chips and beans now

Asda's pizza base mix (just add water) is vegan unless they have changed it recently. I think it's lovely with tomato base, grated Cheezley, finely chopped vegetables and Cheatin Ham

[Gorilla]

i just got a reply back from Domino's, to say that their bases are indeed vegan. PHEW!! but i probably eat far too many of their pizzas anyway

[Flame7]

Hehehe, it's kinda like asking for a cheeseburger minus the cheese....NOT THAT I WOULD ASK FOR ONE. ^-^

.

I asked for a 'mozzarella crunchie baguette without the mozzarella' at a restaurant last year......you should have seen their faces!!!!! They thought I was nuts!!! Our local pizza takeaway always phones us back when we place an order, they always think were a crank caller cause we ask for one without cheese.


xxFLame7

[catalina]

I ordered pizzas without cheese even BEFORE I became a vegan. It was just a calorie issue back then, so I wouldn't gain too much weight. I think it's more common than people think.

[Troutina]

You do not know how amazing this is!!!
I LOVE Papa Johns, oh my gosh I ate like a thousand before I became vegan, especially as I had a friend who worked there, and she got pizzas for £5 each, whatever was on them, and £1.50 while she was working there!!
I don't know whether their garlic dip is vegan, its awesome!!
Its got 'butter flavour' but no actual butter??

[snaffler]

tthe article also seemed to ignore something i have heard, that if a product contains less than 5% slaughter by-products it can be labelled as vegetarian. this is how Pizza Hut can claim that their cheese pizzas do not contain meat or fish, but the tomato sauce is apparently made with meat stock. i hope this is something the law will address.

Please tell me this is not true I had a cheezless pizza from PH about 5 months ago as others were going their, all I had was a veg and the sauce on mine......S**T see no matter haw long you thing your vegan their is always a hidden landmine around the corner.

I am in no way doubting your info what so ever but do you have a link or a source of this and I know many other will want to know.

Thanks all the same for the info.

snaffler

[Gorilla]

sorry to be the bearer of bad news Snaff i can't remember where i heard that about Pizza Hut, but if i can find any concrete info i'll let you know.

[Gorilla]

i'm not sure if this is going too far off topic, it can be moved if necessary, but i did some research into Pizza Hut.

there doesn't seem to be a definite answer, so i would say anyone worried about it should contact Pizza Hut directly. according to Peta2.com their sauce and crusts are vegan, but many other websites say otherwise, e.g. Here which says

"Yes, Pizza Hut is guilty of lacing their pizzas with meat juices. The false advertising is quite dangerous for those have allergies or vegans who abide by a strict non-animal diet....

A famous pizza restaurant found not only in the U.S.A. but also in many locations in Europe. For some time there was doubt about the products from this establishment, but despite the alarms many devotees still visit it regularly. They should know that it is a fact that all pizzas here contain some meat product.....

Pizza Hut is currently being sued for allegedly failing to disclose that there is beef fat in its Veggie Lover's Pizza."

the website's dated 2003 so Pizza Hut may have changed their policies since then - i found their official website and the FAQs say: "Our menu indicates which items are suitable for vegetarians and we make every effort to separate meat and vegetarian dishes. We make all our customers aware that meat is handled in-store and we ensure that all staff understand our standards and procedures for handling products."

they don't accept emails but there are phone and post contact details Here

hope this helps

[aubergine]

I used to work at a Pizza Hut seven years ago, and they were very hot on food preparation. Unlike McDonalds which I had the misfortune to work for, for a day and a half.

I'd heard there is Milk in their bases though. And they're too greasy. If I must eat out, I prefer to go to Pizza Express.

[Nadine]

I've heard that Pizza Hut is linked with or maybe even owned by McDonalds, haven't had time to look into it yet. Does anyone know if that's the case?
It would certainly explain the 'vegetarian meat sauce'.

[snaffler]

The Following Companies are all Owned by http://www.yum.com/
It is the main company that controls
Kentucky Fried Chicken
Pizza Hut
Taco Bell
A&W All American Foods
Long John Silvers

Basically they own the lot - the worse being the EVIL KFC

[alisont]

Recieved this information from Pizza Express today after I emailed them to check they still catered for vegans:

VEGETARIAN & VEGAN MENU ITEMS


Dough

All of the ingredients in the dough are vegetarian, and suitable for vegans.
Carlo (used to lubricate our pans) is also suitable for vegans as it is made from vegetable oils.

Cheese

Cheese is usually made with Rennet, which is used for curdling the milk in order to make cheese. Although most cheeses are made with rennet of animal origin, our Block Mozzarella (used on our pizza), from both Olympia and Carnevale is made with vegetarian rennet and therefore is suitable for vegetarians. Our Buffalo Mozzarella & Goats cheese is also suitable for vegetarians.

Unfortunately, the cheese used for Quattro Formaggi pizza will contain animal rennet, so is therefore unsuitable for vegetarians.

Mascarpone is made with full cream milk and citric acid (but no rennet), and is suitable for vegetarians.

Please remember that Parmesan is made with animal rennet, and therefore Fiorentina, Soho and Parmense pizza are not suitable for vegetarians unless they are made without Parmesan. Cannelloni is made from vegetarian Mozzarella and Ricotta Cheese, but remember to prepare it without parmesan.

Pizza Toppings

We do have some toppings that are obviously not vegetarian such as ham, chicken and pepperoni sausage, but many of the toppings are suitable for vegetarians. The kitchens have a large variety of fresh vegetables available to them, and therefore vegans are able to choose from this selection to create a pizza suitable.

Pesto


Our pesto is made with a fresh basil made with hard Italian cheese and is suitable for vegetarians.

Salads


Caesar salad contains anchovies and parmesan cheese (which is made with animal rennet).
Our house dressing contains Worcestershire Sauce made without anchovy, which is therefore a vegetarian product.
Pollo, Nicoise, Pancetta, D’Autunno and Nostrana can all be ordered without the items that render it unsuitable i.e. chicken etc.

Desserts

Chocolate Fudge Cake made with Betty Crocker mix and frosting contains ingredients that may be obtained from either animal or vegetable fats, and the manufacturers cannot guarantee that they are free from animal products.

Ravello Bombe made by Marine Ices is made using vegetarian ingredients, however the wafers contain animal fats.

Vanilla Ice Cream made by DiSotto is suitable for vegetarians

Banoffee pie, Caffe Reale, Cheesecake and Toffee Fudge Glory are all suitable for vegetarians.

Pear Tart contains an emulsifier (E471) that may be obtained from either animal or vegetable fat, and the manufacturers cannot guarantee that the one they use is suitable for vegetarians.
Our Summer Pudding now contains a vegetable gelatine and is therefore a suitable dessert for vegetarians.

Quality & Safety Department




N.B. Our vegetarian options are indicated on the menu using a ‘v’ symbol denoting that they do not contain ingredients that originate from animal, fish or fowl

Not a great selection but beats pizzahut who 's bases are not vegan!

Alison

[Cherry]

I love Pizza Express. I used to go quite a bit with my ex when we lived in Cambridge. My favourite is a giardiniera pizza (having leeks and peas on pizza is a bit of a novelty), with no mushrooms and no cheese obviously, and with artichokes and olives instead. I went a couple of weeks ago to the one in Ely, and they didn't give me any extra toppings so it looked a bit bare. Still nice though.

Really shocked that so many of the desserts contain animals. And I know it's potentially a bit boring, but they could at least do something simple with fruit so there's a dairy free/vegan option.

[Kiran]

I rely on a local Take-away called the grove cafe, in Leeds. They do excellent variations of the Vegan Pizza, and it is quite good. I often tell them customise it with extra tofu and Jalapenos. And what more, they deliver it to my door step till 10.30 PM.

[lozza]

hi ali! *waves*

its me from the other forum

[lozza]

i used to hate people seeing me eat pizza without cheese. but i mostly only eat pizza with friends now, so they dont bother. but i think i've gotten to a point where i'm happy enough to say to people "oh i actually prefer it without cheese" and they're like "oh right ok"

in fact, i've heard a few non-vegans say they would eat pizza if it wasnt covered in cheese. my ex hated melted cheese. (i think..)

i dont think people realise they can ask for it without cheese

[lozza]

i'm sure they will if you ask them nicely. most places will be willing to accomodate you if they can cos they dont want to lose your custom.

i used to get a lot of weird looks and comments when i first started asking for pizza without cheese..but i do it so often now, most places dont even bat an eyelid. alot more people must be asking for it now!

[jackxattack]

I love Pizza Express pizzas! I always get a cheeseless margharita with spinach, capers, sundried tomatoes and black olives. I got sick of cheese the last few months I was vegetarian (as I'd always just eat cheese pizzas) so I now prefer cheeseless pizzas with extra tomato sauce.

Recieved this information from Pizza Express today after I emailed them to check they still catered for vegans:

VEGETARIAN & VEGAN MENU ITEMS


Dough

All of the ingredients in the dough are vegetarian, and suitable for vegans.
Carlo (used to lubricate our pans) is also suitable for vegans as it is made from vegetable oils.

Cheese

Cheese is usually made with Rennet, which is used for curdling the milk in order to make cheese. Although most cheeses are made with rennet of animal origin, our Block Mozzarella (used on our pizza), from both Olympia and Carnevale is made with vegetarian rennet and therefore is suitable for vegetarians. Our Buffalo Mozzarella & Goats cheese is also suitable for vegetarians.

Unfortunately, the cheese used for Quattro Formaggi pizza will contain animal rennet, so is therefore unsuitable for vegetarians.

Mascarpone is made with full cream milk and citric acid (but no rennet), and is suitable for vegetarians.

Please remember that Parmesan is made with animal rennet, and therefore Fiorentina, Soho and Parmense pizza are not suitable for vegetarians unless they are made without Parmesan. Cannelloni is made from vegetarian Mozzarella and Ricotta Cheese, but remember to prepare it without parmesan.

Pizza Toppings

We do have some toppings that are obviously not vegetarian such as ham, chicken and pepperoni sausage, but many of the toppings are suitable for vegetarians. The kitchens have a large variety of fresh vegetables available to them, and therefore vegans are able to choose from this selection to create a pizza suitable.

Pesto


Our pesto is made with a fresh basil made with hard Italian cheese and is suitable for vegetarians.

Salads


Caesar salad contains anchovies and parmesan cheese (which is made with animal rennet).
Our house dressing contains Worcestershire Sauce made without anchovy, which is therefore a vegetarian product.
Pollo, Nicoise, Pancetta, D’Autunno and Nostrana can all be ordered without the items that render it unsuitable i.e. chicken etc.

Desserts

Chocolate Fudge Cake made with Betty Crocker mix and frosting contains ingredients that may be obtained from either animal or vegetable fats, and the manufacturers cannot guarantee that they are free from animal products.

Ravello Bombe made by Marine Ices is made using vegetarian ingredients, however the wafers contain animal fats.

Vanilla Ice Cream made by DiSotto is suitable for vegetarians

Banoffee pie, Caffe Reale, Cheesecake and Toffee Fudge Glory are all suitable for vegetarians.

Pear Tart contains an emulsifier (E471) that may be obtained from either animal or vegetable fat, and the manufacturers cannot guarantee that the one they use is suitable for vegetarians.
Our Summer Pudding now contains a vegetable gelatine and is therefore a suitable dessert for vegetarians.

Quality & Safety Department




N.B. Our vegetarian options are indicated on the menu using a ‘v’ symbol denoting that they do not contain ingredients that originate from animal, fish or fowl

Not a great selection but beats pizzahut who 's bases are not vegan!

Alison

[Catie]

Does anyone know about which pizza bases are vegan in Pizza Hut, I know theres already a thread on this in the is it vegan bit but I thought it might vary from country to country.

Thanks

[feral]

Hey Catie, check it out here http://www.pizzahut.co.uk/pdf/Allergy-PH0018_3h.pdf

[Pob]

The only pizza base listed as vegan is the stuffed crust one.

That'll be fun to order, then. "Can I have a stuffed crust pizza, without it being stuffed with anything?!"

Seems a bit odd - is it maybe not a mistake?
They do have cherry tomatoes listed as vegan and not vegan, so the list appears not to be perfect.

If it was me, I would probably stick with pasta and salad.

[alisont]

I asked in my local branch - the pizza bases contain milk products

The pasta might contain egg and they couldnt tell me if the salads were safe? might be cross contamination

Im working on a summer scheme this year and for 2 weeks i will be taking students to eat there - i told pizza hut to expect me with a picnic! i reckon il take a nice mini vegan tofu pizza in with me and my own salads got a blank look when i said this, but they didnt say no!

Pizza express bases are vegan, and Dominoes if take away needed, Asdas create your own bases are fine too.

Alison

[RedWellies]

I read somewhere that Ask can do a vegan pizza too but I haven't checked that myself.

[Ara]

I actually went to Ask yesterday and they were really unhelpful. To my horror they don't even label things as vege on their menu! So even if you're vege you have to ask what you can eat...

The only thing that they could offer me was plain pasta with vegetables mixed in with olive oil (how novel, i could have cooked that at home for half the price!) They did mutter something about making a wine sauce, but i asked them if their wine was vegan and they just went "huh? It's cooking wine...". Right, great.

If they can do a vegan pizza there was no sign of it yesterday!

[Tray]

I know it's not my place here because i'm not from the UK and also it's OT but once when i wasn't vegan i went to Pizza Hut and the pizza was really inedible...

[Catie]

Why do they have to make things non-vegan even though they should be vegan? I thought I was safe going in and asking for a cheeseless pizza- I guess you cant just presume things are ok, even though they should be.

[RedWellies]

I guess you cant just presume things are ok, even though they should be.

You are so right Catie. Never assume anything!

[Blueshark]

There is a Halal restaurant in North London, which specifically does cheeseless vegan pizzas. I will get the name of it and post it here. It does delivery, takeway etc..

One thing I noticed, after eating pizza about 10 months into being a vegan was that, I didnt get that heavy, bloated feeling like used to with cheesy ones.

[Tray]

You are so right Catie. Never assume anything!

yeah that's right!
you can't never know.. Falafel with eggs, pizza with pig fat (i don't know the word in english) and so on..
This is one reason why I don't eat at restaurants..

[RedWellies]

This is one reason why I don't eat at restaurants..

I do because I think they need to be educated to what vegan means. But I interrogate them first!!!

[the_marmite_kid]

the far swankier pizza express resturants have vegan bases, they make lovely pizza's but dont have an all you can eat salad bar

[sugarmouse]

anyone know about TIGI's pizza?

[Pob]

The pasta might contain egg and they couldnt tell me if the salads were safe? might be cross contamination

Cross-contamination is generally something we have to live with - especially if you are eating out. I would treat salad as safe. The pasta should be, too, as it is listed as vegan and not containing eggs.

[Troutina]

I heard a while ago that Ask could offer nothing vegetarian, let alone vegan.
The cheese on the pizzas wasn't vegetarian. But I get the impression that they have changed. Such a stone age way of thinking not to have anything vegetarian on the menu- it shocks me!

[Catie]

I know that the pizza bases in Pizza Express are vegan but does anyone else know what else on their menu is ok? Or do they have a list like pizza huts of things people might be allergic to which lists what is vegan.

And could anyone tell me how reliable or happy they are making cheeseless pizzas

Thanks

[PlumsOfDoom]

Last time I went, I seem to remember the only other option was a green salad or something. The pizzas are nice though. Have had a couple of cheeseless and changed some toppings for others and they have been fine.

I'm sure I read once, quite a while ago, that there was one that had vegan cheese, but not sure. Perhaps someone can shed some more light?

Plums

[Mr Flibble]

They trialled redwood meltable once, but i don't think it was rolled out nationally. Cheese on pizza is for loosers

[PlumsOfDoom]

They trialled redwood meltable once, but i don't think it was rolled out nationally. Cheese on pizza is for loosers

Thanx.
(Mr F knows the answer to everything, he's a regular encyclopedia )

[Catie]

Yeah, I knew about that. They don't do it anymore though. The full story is here if you want to know more.

Thanks

[aubergine]

Giardinera with no cheese is good.

Giardinera with Jalapenos and no cheese is awesome.

[feral]

I was quite excited to find that there are two in Belfast until I was looking at their menu only to notice that they have Arancini marked as veggie when it has ham in it! http://www.pizzaexpress.co.uk/menu.htm I've emailed them asking about it.

[Catie]

I noticed that on their website, but I thought I'd wait til I went there to see if the actual menu was right.

They had lemon sorbet on the menu but as no ones said anything about i, I presume it isn't ok. But on the plus side the little italian resturant I go to with my mum does great vegan sorbet.